Tag Archives: kindness

If you’re here at this website, you’re probably already noticed that I’m interested in positive psychology and do believe that kinder people are happier and contribute to a better society.

What you might not now, is that, for me, nothing substitutes chocolate. I know a lot of people say they’re chocaholics, but in my case, is different. I literally can’t spend more than 24h without eating a piece. Is my only, and therefore very serious, addiction.

So can you imagine a store where you can buy chocolates with kindness? It would be like heaven for me. The only difference, is that this the store is for real.

The danish chocolate company Anthon Berg, with the help of the agency Robert/Boisen & Like Minded, created the Generous Store. For a day, they ‘sold’ chocolate, but not for money. Instead of that, they were demanding good deeds in return. People would pick up the chocolate and then they would post on Facebook when the promise finally became an action.

You probably already know Lucas Jatobá, the guy who spread colorful balloons around Barcelona. In this post I had described it as the perfect way to say goodbye! Well, the good thing about amazing people is that they never stop being amazing. And now Lucas surprises us once more by showing what is the best way to celebrate a birthday: yes, it has to do with gifts, but in this case, to other people besides you!

So, do you remember when I invited everybody to spend one day and do something really nice to a stranger/ community/ friend?

I called it Ultimate Intervention, the day is April 9th and it’s getting closer. Your intervention might be anything, you might spend five minutes or an hour doing it, and it’s supposed to be as much fun and simple and you want.

Lately I’ve been receiving a lot of ideas of nice things to do to break the routine of people by bringing joy.

So I decided to take a day to invite people to do the same, wherever they are. I already have representatives in USA and Brazil (Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo), and the more the merrier. Imagine how nice would it be to have many people engaged in doing nice things all around the world, at least for one day?

So I’m developing some kits of everything you need to make these interventions and I’m willing to send them to everyone who decides to participate. All I ask is that you record (pictures or movies) and send to me so I can publish it here! Also, invite your friends, you’re going to notice that is much, much more fun if you have some company!

Don Norman said that happy people are more inclined to act positively and be kinder to others. So, why not? It could be the start of a kind chain. I also understand that each place has its specific characteristics, so I would love to hear your suggestion of what to do in your city.

If you’re interested, or curious, please send me an e-mail to isawonderfulworld [at] yahoo [dot] com with the subject “Ultimate Intervention” and let me know where you are! Let’s have fun together!

And this is what I’m going to do: I’ll perform each one of them for the next two weeks. Every Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I’m very excited because a bunch of friends already said that they are going to help me.

So, this is an invitation for you too. In case you’re around Manhattan in any of these days and want to participate, you’re more than welcome to. In these cases, the more the merrier!

Keep checking for updated schedule and more news. Now it’s going to get fun! : )

So, here is the deal: I could easily decide those who were more successful, but since the goal of these interventions is to make people’s happier and kinder, I’d love to listen from you, which one would you like to see being improved. In other words, which would be the interventions that would make you feel better if it happened to you?

Tcha ra ra ram:

[polldaddy poll=4517530]

p.s: Number 13, 14 and 15 are out of the pool because they are very site-based and might not apply to every occasion:

13. Kindness on the toll: Payed a stranger’s toll.

14. Lyrics on the bike lane: Rio was facing a lot of violence, so I wrote down a lyric about peace.

15. Peaceful Christmas Tree: again about the violence in Rio, I ornamented a tree on a park with white origami pigeons filled with twitters about peace + war + rio.

So, if I don’t find a cool job, this will be my last semester in NY. Which means that I have to take these last weeks and do something really meaningful for the city. While you all should be cheering for me : ), I’ll create a poll later today with all the interventions I already made so you guys can choose which ones would you like to see repeated.

About:

IsA Wonderful World is a series of urban interventions created to break the routine and bring joy to people living in big cities. We deeply believe that positive attitudes can lead into a kinder society.